Volume 2.04 | Feb 4

Study Weighs Benefits of Transplants for Leukemia
Leukemia patients who have blood stem cell transplants survive just as long on average as those who undergo the more invasive procedure of having a bone marrow transplant. [Press release from Reuters discussing the online prepublication in Lancet Oncology]

Stem Cell Breakthrough: Bone Marrow Cells Are the Answer
New research shows that bone marrow cells fuse to different types of cells, including embryonic stem cells, creating new hybrids that may evade immune rejection. [Press release from the University of Iowa discussing the online prepublication in the FASEB Journal]

Head of Blood Agency in Hot Seat
New Brunswick health officials are hoping for a breakthrough as they prepare for a critical meeting in the battle to save the Canadian Blood Services production and distribution centre in Saint John. [Telegraph-Journal]

Forum Explores Umbilical Cord Blood Bank
Legislators and medical professionals are exploring the possibility of banking umbilical cord blood as a way to potentially save people whose lives are threatened by cancers and other diseases. [Connecticut Public Health Committee, United States]